ANTH 374 Requirements (UIUC, Spr 2018)
Note: The Syllabus is a Living Document
This syllabus is a starting point for the course. It is subject to change as the term unfolds, in response to your feedback and my assessment of how things are going. I’ll be seeking out your feedback regularly. Since this is the first time this course has been offered and my first term teaching at UIUC, some adjustments are likely. These adjustments may involve altering assignments or adding, removing, or modifying readings. Any changes will be discussed in class and announced via email, so attend class and check your inbox.
Required Texts:
Subramaniam, Banu. Ghost Stories for Darwin: The Science of Variation and the Politics of Diversity. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2014.
(available as E-BOOK at https://vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-uiu/Record/uiu_7817934)
Wacjman, Judy. Pressed for Time: The Acceleration of Life in Digital Capitalism. U of Chicago Press, 2015.
Additional course materials will be made available through our Compass2G site. Make sure to complete reading assignments PRIOR to class meetings.
Class Format: Due to the size of the course, we will run these meetings seminar-style. This requires students to lead and engage in discussion. There will be in-class screenings of various narrative and documentary films.
Availability
I try to be available via email, and you should generally receive a reply within 24–48 hours of emailing me. Some topics are easier dealt with in conversation, so I may ask you to come to office hours. As a rule, I do not answer email over the weekend or after 5 pm the day before an assignment is due. Plan ahead.
I am available for meeting with students during office hours or by appointment if you absolutely cannot make my scheduled office hours. I expect you all to meet with me at least twice to discuss your topics for papers.
I am holding office hours at the Department of Asian American Studies Student Lounge, 1208 W. Nevada Street. If this public space does not accommodate you, let me know, and we can meet elsewhere.
Course Expectations:
· I expect you to come to class on time, and remain in class until the end of the period. If another scheduled class or another commitment would require you either to arrive late or to leave early on a regular basis, please choose between the two commitments and drop one of them.
· Students should come to all classes prepared, and shall participate actively in discussions. You will be expected to read a number of articles, book chapters and primary sources each week, and the reading should be completed before class.
· You’re welcome to use a laptop or tablet to take notes, but please don’t use it for another purpose unrelated to our course. We will create a community of respect for one another, and for the learning process, in this course. Once class begins please …
• refrain from speaking privately to classmates
• turn off phones and any other devices that may beep, ring, honk, or make any other disruptive noise
• save texting for after class
• save e-mailing for after class
• save Facebooking for after class
• save Web Surfing for after class.
I don’t intend to police your computer or tablet use, but if your computer use becomes disruptive to me and those around you, I’ll ask you to close your computer and refrain from bringing it to future classes.
· Please make every effort to schedule medical appointments, job interviews, etc., at times that will NOT require you to come late to class, or to leave class early. If you need to come late or leave early on a particular day because of an unavoidable and desperately important appointment, please let your instructor know ahead of time, and sit close to the door so you don’t disrupt class. Arrange with a classmate to obtain notes from the session meeting you missed. Answers to common questions about the course are readily available on posted handouts and materials on our course website.
· If you still need information after you have checked the online and printed course materials and website, you are welcome to email me. Any student who routinely violates these or other basic expectations of courtesy to your instructor and classmates will be asked to drop the course.
Attendance
Lecture attendance is required. Lectures may cover materials that are not part of the day’s readings and may involve other activities including exercises and pop quizzes. Students are expected to have read the texts for the day’s lecture. Roll will not be taken and attendance and participation points will be based on quiz grades.
Pop Quizzes, In-Class Exercises, and Engagement (In Class)
These are activities that may include group discussions, online quizzes and/or in-class written responses on paper. In-class exercises and online quizzes cannot be made-up. In-class exercises are not announced.
I expect you to attend and actively engage in class. Unexcused absences will impact your grade. Engagement is not simply a matter of speaking some number of times in class. Rather, I expect you to engage constructively, respectfully, and generously with the ideas of your classmates and the readings.
People learn differently and have different propensities for participating in class. If you are averse to speaking up in class, please come talk with me and we will come up wth alternatives to make up for your engagement grade (e.g. writing reading responses or writing more on ethnographic exercises).
Reading Notes
Complete a reading notes form or answer the questions on a typed word processing document for all designated readings. The reading notes questions ask you to summarize the main point(s) of this article/chapter; something interesting you found from the reading; relate the ideas in this reading to other class readings; and define, discuss, or identify something new or a newly used concept from the reading.
Your responses to the reading notes questions are due (hard copy submission to the instructor) at the beginning of each class. Feel free to bring an additional copy of the form for you to use as reference during in class discussions.
MEDIUM.com stories DUE FRIDAY by 12PM Central Standard Time
Create a media presence on http://www.medium.com. Learn how to navigate the site on your own. You do not need to make your page public, but you do need to link to our course medium.com page (https://medium.com/anth374s18). To link your post to our medium.com course site, TAG your story with ANTH374S18 followed by a dash then a three-digit number based on the assignment number (e.g. ANTH374S18-001 for the first story and -002 for the second story). If you find technical issues in linking or sharing your story to the course medium page, please email me a link of your story before the deadline.
Each media story post on your own MEDIUM.com page is a reflection on the course themes that week. Unlike your reading notes forms, find outside sources to apply one or more of the conceptual themes. Add links, videos, and other media to enhance your page. How would you apply our course themes to real life events? Write as if your post will be made available to a wide readership.
FINAL PROJECT: due THURSDAY, May 10 by 11:00 AM Central Standard Time
• What are key concepts in the anthropological study of sciences and technologies?
• Choose 3 visuals (still image or moving images; with or without sound) to answer the question above. You may create your own visual or you may reference visuals from those available on the Internet. If you choose an image online, please REFERENCE it on your submission with a link, hyperlink, and/or creator attribution. In other words, I want to know where you found the material.
• Choose an additional visual to address anthropological studies of science and technology that were not covered in the course. Provide a scholarly reading that accompanies the themes/topics of this final visual. Or what is an academic study, journal article that tackles the missing subject. You may use http://scholar.google.com as a starting point.
• Each visual should have an accompanying text of 5 sentences MINIMUM (no maximum). The text should include two readings from the class (one from prior to the midterm and one from after the midterm). These should not be summaries of the readings but using specific arguments, evidence, concepts that answer the project question above.
- Post your four visuals and accompanying text directly on your MEDIUM site with the tag anth374s18-final
- Post on INSTAGRAM and use #anth374s18 on the caption of your entry.
Each visual is worth 2 point. The accompanying text for the first THREE visual counts for 5 points. The accompanying text for the FOURTH visual is 7 points.
You may complete this project before the stated deadline.
There will be NO FINAL EXAM in this course.
Grading:
Assignment One due 19Jan2018–3 points
Midterm Exam — 30 points
23 — Reading Notes (3pts each) — 69 points
12 — medium.com stories (4pts each) — 48 points
Technocultural Futurisms Online Post — 10 points
Final online media project — 30 points
Participation/Engagement — 10 points
200 points total
Extra Credit: Extra Credit opportunities will be made available to students at least 4 days before the event. Extra Credit opportunities will require attendance and a reading notes submission for 2 points.
Academic Dishonesty — Cheating & Plagiarism: Check with instructor and consult the university Catalog and/or Student Conduct and Academic Integrity Program (http://conduct.ucr.edu). Proven plagiarism or any form of dishonesty associated with the academic process can result in the offender failing the course in which the offense was committed or expulsion from school. A pdf copy with definitions of various types of academic misconduct is available on our Compass2G web site under the Course Materials folder.
APRIL 11: Instead of class, please attend one of the panels from the Technocultural Futurisms Symposium at the I Hotel (see schedule below). Please make arrangements with me prior to April 11 if you are unable to attend any of the panels on Wednesday.
A possible replacement is the Tuesday, April 10 keynote speaker Amitav Ghosh, 7PM in Foellinger Auditorium.
